Wake-up: Fall has arrived

Yup, fall is here. I quite enjoy fall with the beautiful colored leaves, crisp air, and layering of clothing that circumvents having to wear a heavy jacket.

My capitol hill neighborhood is bursting with color.

Red leaves across the street from our house.

photo credit: Cayenne 11.06.10 and 11.13.10

Weekend: DC Tweed Ride 2010

There were many a dandy and quaintrelle on the streets of DC this Sunday afternoon, including myself. We had so much fun dressing up and riding from Lincoln Park to Stroga in Adams Morgan.

Many ladies had on high heels and everyone was dressed to the nines. I will be expanding my tweed collection in preparation for next year and also looking for some seersucker for the summer ride. Ride info here on Dandies & Quaintrelles: Redemption through Style.

photo credit: grey suit by maxedaperture; quaintrelles ride in heels by Oisercage

Wake-up: I'm still here...

...exploring bustling DC.

...finding a routine.

...commuting 2 hours a day.

...enjoying happy hours.

...settling into the house.

All this takes up the majority of my time and leaves so few spare moments for blogging or cooking. Am I cooking? - not so much, just the quick dinners that I've posted for the past two years here on Cayenne + Carob.

Am I reading blogs? - a few but mostly enjoying the more graphic blogs.

I don't know where this blog is going to end up after my career transition. In the meantime you can still find me on twitter and on Pinterest.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Looking for neat architecture, interior design, or fashion/style there is a cache of boards for you to browse through. I pin a dozen images a week so go check it out. Keep up with me there while I figure out what I'm doing here.

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photo credit: Cayenne 09.25.10, American Visionary Art Museum (Baltimore, MD)

Weekend: Workshare at Clagett Farm

My first weekend in DC we completed a workshare at the Cheasapeake Bay Foundation's Claggett Farm. Two of my good friends reccomended this great farm where you can work for 4 hours in exchange for 1 share in their community supported agriculture food box. Two adults working a 4 hour shift on a Saturday morning mean we took home 8 pounds of 4 different kinds of squash, and 4 pounds total of green beans, okra, tomatoes, and all-you-can-pick herbs.

Our work on the farm included picking 3 different varieties of beans, cucumbers and cleaning up a rotting melon field. There were black widow spiders involved in that last task. By 1p we felt as though we definitely earned our workshare. I hope to be able to do a workshare once a month depending on if we can a ride out to the farm.

Clagett Farm

11904 Old Marlboro Pike
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301.627.4662

CSA pricing: 600$ annually for new members (pick up in Dupont Circle)

Workshare info: workshare opportunities are available Thursday-Saturday. Call 301.537.3038 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the Thursday or Friday before the Saturday you would like to come to the farm. Bring a water bottle, work gloves, and a good hat to shield the sun. The farm is located approximately 30 minutes from Capitol Hill by car.

Directions: follow the driving directions written on the website

photo credit: Cayenne 09.04.10

Washington, DC: Home Sweet Home

I truly did intend to show you some of my California summer roads trips before making the big move across the country to the east coast. Alas, once I proclaimed such a plan, I promptly had no time to blog - I am sorry. The last few weeks have been filled with visiting family, moving into my new house in a new-to-me neighborhood, and starting orientation for the fellowship I will be completing in the coming year.

photo credit: U.S. Capitol Building by Cayenne 09.06.10

Big News: I'm moving to...

...Washington, DC! Yup, I am one month away from my big move to DC and I could not keep it a secret any longer. Now you know why I have been feeling incredibly overwhelmed. Posting will continue to be light here on Cayenne + Carob but I'll pop in every once in a while to say hi!

photo credit: vintage luggage picture from Emblem Magazine's Tumblr

Washington, DC: Food Adventures Part II

Founding Farmers (Farragut Square)- My friends like good food, I like good food, and that seems to attract other people who "like good food." On our only free night during the week that I was in DC, we carefully chose Founding Farmers (FF). Sure we had a lot of options but FF was appealing because it touted itself as sustainable, trying to buy local (in-season) ingredients. The menu was classic American food with homecooked-style dishes like mac 'n cheese, chili made with grass-fed beef, burgers, rips, and steak.

I was totally blow away by the mussels - they melted in your mouth - that came to the table steaming hot and marinating in a smooth white wine pesto sauce. I have never been a fan of mussels, having tried them only 1-2 times previous to FF. Since falling in love with the FF's mussels, I have ordered them in Juneau and San Diego; none were as good as the FF mussels. We also tried the slow-simmered sirloin chili (pretty good), and Lemon Meunière Diver Scallops, which were another table favorite. See more reviews on Yelp here.

Cork (U Street) - I have soft spot for tapas because they suit my eating lifestyle - I want to try just a little bit of everything. So tapas to share with friends at Cork is just perfect. They have a zillion wine choices and tapas made with locally grown and harvested vegetables. We shared the roasted brussel sprouts, lemon and black pepper dusted calamari and rock shrimp, chick peas in saffron broth with swiss chard and tomato, and sauteed kale. I know we had some meat in there but I cannot remember which meaty dish we chose. I can tell you that every veggie place was amazing. Seems like everyone else love's the food at Cork too, yelp reviews.

Busboys and Poets (U Street) - After dinner at Cork we walked down the street for dessert at Busboys and Poets. On a Friday night these U Street favs were packed. Just a short browse through the books before we were sitting at our table enjoying tea, coffee and carrot cake. Go see and be seen at Busboys and Poets.

photo credit: Founding Farmer's Restaurant byJonathan Thorpe; Cork Wine Bar by Brian Liu published in the Washingtonian; Busboys and Poets by scotty.trimmier

Washington, DC: Food Adventures Part I

Finally, I am wrapping up the DC posts. To recap I made two trips to DC in Marchand April. At the time I was living in Juneau, AK.

Now I am back in San Diego and catching you up on my adventures on the east coast. Fortunately, I have friends in DC who love good food as much as I do. We had many food outings that I will share with in two posts, cuz well the single post I wrote was much too long :-)

Teaism (Dupont Circle and Penn Quarter) - Since I have lived in DC, some 7 years ago, Teaism has expanded from its quirky row house and added a new location down by the National Mall. I did not visit the original Dupont Circle location and I hope it still has its rustic and cozy feel that makes for a perfect brunch hideout (see photo above of an upstairs table). I was not excited about the *new* location's stark, modern and streamline interior. The food has also expanded to include inventive lunch/dinner fare. I did enjoyed my ginger lemonade and cucumber ginger salad. Stick to the Dupont Circle location.

Meze (Adams Morgan) - I met up with old (high school) friends at this lively Turkish tapas joint in Adams Morgan. Though I am particularly fond of tapas, the small plates at Meze were unique and flavorful. The most adventurous dish we tried was liver (beef, I think, for the record moose liver is waaay better) and onions. Grab some friends and a table at Meze, you won't be disappointed. We were leisurely and did not notice the slow service that people are complaining about on yelp, FYI if you are in a rush.

Mai Thai (Dupont Circle) - Thai food was on the top of my list of foods-to-eat-once-out-of-Juneau. Chan's Thai Kitchen is an excellent thai restaurant in Juneau but it is located in Auke Bay, definitely not within walking distance of downtown. In fact, I was only able to eat there once. They also did not have any dishes with wide rice noodle, which I LOVE. I ate at Mai Thai on both my trips to DC. Both were excellent and I ordered my usual spicy drunken noodles. Their spicy levels are not consistent since my first visit the food was only mildly spicy and on the second visit, I could not even finish my dish it was so spicy. This place is perfect for large groups and they are pretty speedy on the service side.

Le Pain Quotidien (Spring Valley, Bethesda, MD) - I liked the French and rustic feel of Le Pain Quotidien. I coffee and the parmesan and pesto omelet - delicious and a large serving. LAH had creamed farro. We both had no idea what farro was but she said it was yummy. Google has informed me that farro is a wheat grain, debatable on which species of wheat, in its whole form. On my next trip I'm going to check out Down Dog Yoga and get breakfast at the Le Pain Quotidien in Georgetown.

I should probably start writing yelp reviews but I am feeling a little lathargic about doing that. Anyone have other ideas for where to compile my favorite eats in different cities?

photo credit: Tea + Conversation (@ Teaism) by Chocokat; Meze by mjabbasi; Le Pain Quotidien Specials by spectreman

Washington, DC: Homemade Sushi + Berry Rosemary Crumble

Homemade Sushi - Interviewing in DC meant that I got to spend time with two of my very good friends LAH and SOA. SOA had us over for dinner one night and we feasted on homemade sushi and a berry rosemary crumble.

Unfortunately my pictures of the crumble did not turn out but it certainly stole the show. Here is the recipe for Blackberry and Rosemary Crumble from Tyler Florence. The rosemary is so key here and I cannot wait to try it myself. Huge containers of black berries were at my local Trader Joe's this morning. Someone throw a dinner party so I can bring this!

Blackberry and Rosemary Crumble

Recipe from Tyler Florence

for the crumble topping, mash together the butter, sugar, flour, and rosemary in a large bowl using your hands.

In a large bowl, mix the blackberries, sugar, arrowroot, and lemon juice together. Pour and spread the blackberry filling into a glass baking pan. Crumble the topping over the blackberry mixture. Bake for 1 hour on a nonstick cookie sheet (to catch any overflow) until the topping is brown and the fruit is bubbly. Serve the crumble with vanilla soy ice cream.

Time: 1 1/2 hours

Serves: 8

Crumble:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

11/2 cups sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

Needles from 2 rosemary sprigs

Filling:

2 quarts fresh blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch (or arrowroot)

Juice of 1 lemon

photo credit: CNC and LAH 03.05.10; Fresh picked Blackberries!!! by KimFearheiley